Jane Austen Character Throwdown: Who is more irritating?

Some of Jane Austen's characters are too irritating for words. Who, in your opinion, would be the most irritating character if you had to invite one of these women to a close family gathering? (We'll deal with the males at another time.)

Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates 

Miss Bates, Emma: She cannot stop chattering and few can get a word in edgewise. Emma, who has been brought up better and embodies the rules of etiquette, can almost not stand her, forcing Mr. Knightley to remind her of Miss Bates's very reduced circumstances and uncertain future. No topic is too trivial for Miss Bates to lengthen and expound upon for endless boring minutes.

Mrs. Bennet has another attack of the vapors

Mrs. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice: I think it is safe to say that Mrs. Bennet is one of the most famous irritating characters in literary history with her continual spasms, vapors, and nerves. Conversations that should remain private are made public or are overheard in her loud voice. She can be notoriously insensitive and often embarrasses her family with her artless statements.

Mrs. Palmer always looks on the bright side

Mrs. Palmer, Sense and Sensibility: An incessantly cheerful airhead, she always sees the good in others or a situation. Mr. Palmer checked out of his marriage ages ago, ignoring his wife's talent for regurgitating inanities. Her altered Pollyanna perception of the universe makes her turn everything into a glad and happy world. Even Elinor Dashwood felt guilty for not liking her more.

Most irritating character
	Miss Bates
	Mrs. Bennet
	Mrs. Palmer
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Jane Austen Character Throwdown: Spirit of Giving

We now know who you think will add conversational spice to your Christmas eve dinner: Henry Tilney. He won by a nose, but the contest was never certain, for Lizzy Bennet pulled ahead on several occasions. This was our most popular throwdown to date, which tells us how passionate you are about your dinner guests.

Our next throwdown is designed for the spirit of giving. You have filled a sturdy basket with a roasted goose, side of ham, Christmas pudding, dishes of vegetables, orange marmalade, a box of tea leaves, yards of French lace, and enough ribbons to trim several bonnets. Jane Austen described many households in her novels, but I can't think of two that are more deserving of your largesse than Mrs. Bates' and Miss Bates', and Mrs. Smith's households. This week we ask you to decide on the individuals who are ...

Most Deserving of a Christmas Basket

Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates, widow and spinster, Emma
Miss Bates's cheery and gregarious disposition cannot hide the unalterable fact that she and her aged mother live in genteel but dire circumstances. Oh, yes, the Woodhouses, Eltons, and Mr. Knightley invite these two ladies over for teas, dinners, and picnics with regularity, but these two women must stretch every farthing and shilling to their utmost, darn every sock, mend every torn hem, boil every ham and chicken to the bone, and rework every bonnet in order to make ends meet. At Box Hill Mr. Knightley remonstrates Emma after she made fun of Miss Bates: "She is poor; she has sunk from the comforts she was born to; and, if she live to old age, must probably sink more. Her situation should secure your compassion. It was badly done, indeed!."

Mrs. Smith, widow, Persuasion
Prevented from benefiting from her husband's small inheritance through Mr. William Elliot's willful neglect, she is alone and impoverished. In such poor health that she is unable to walk or leave her small Bath apartment in Westgate Buildings, Mrs. Smith, has only the company of Nurse Rooke and the gossip she brings to keep her amused. She nevertheless manages to retain a cheery and optimistic outlook. Once Anne Elliot's supportive friend at school, she now depends on Anne's friendship in turn. "She had been used to affluence,--it was gone. She had no child to connect her with life and happiness again, no relations to assist in the arrangement of perplexed affairs, no health to make all the rest supportable. Her accommodations were limited to a noisy parlour, and a dark bed-room behind, with no possibility of moving from one to the other without assistance, which there was only one servant in the house to afford."

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Jane Austen Character Throwdown: Spirit of Giving

Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates Mrs. Smith

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World

Jane Austen Character Throwdown: Sweetest Lady

Our readers voted and the verdict is in: General Tilney is the Worst Father, beating Sir Walter Elliot by a 6:4 margin. Our next throwdown takes us in the opposite direction - to sweetest lady. We will visit two secondary characters for the first vote in this category, and then will move up to the main characters in later contests. For your consideration, please vote for the character who best fits this category:

Sweetest Lady

Miss Bates, Emma:
Yes Miss Bates' runaway mouth can be infuriatingly irritating, but this endearing spinster has not a mean bone in her body. Sweet without fault, she finds the good in people and enjoys their companionship. She is grateful for the slightest bit of attention, and though she is materially poor, she feels blessed and contented. When Emma petulantly makes fun of her at Box Hill, Miss Bates' reaction is one of hurt, not blame: - "but, when it burst on her, it could not anger, though a slight blush shewed that it could pain her. 'Ah!—well—to be sure. Yes, I see what she means, (turning to Mr. Knightley,) and I will try to hold my tongue. I must make myself very disagreeable, or she would not have said such a thing to an old friend.' "



Miss Eleanor Tilney, Northanger Abbey:
A true lady, gentle and sweet, she is a loving sister, obedient daughter, and devoted friend. Eleanor exudes an older sister's influence over Catherine Morland, genuinely liking the naive and inexperienced girl, and taking her under her wing. When General Tilney banishes Catherine from Northanger Abbey, Eleanor gives her money to get home. Jane Austen's description of Eleanor is telling: Miss Tilney had a good figure, a pretty face, and a very agreeable countenance; and her air, though it had not all the decided pretension, the resolute stylishness of Miss Thorpe's, had more real elegance. Her manners showed good sense and good breeding; they were neither shy nor affectedly open..."

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Jane Austen Character Throwdown: Sweetest Lady
Miss Bates Miss Eleanor Tilney

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World

Seen on the Blogosphere

Mrs. Bates, the widow of a former vicar of Highbury, was a very old lady, almost past every thing but tea and quadrille. - Jane Austen, Emma, Chapter 3

• Miss Bates' My Space Page

• Tea - Jane Austen, Social Order and the American Revolution!

• How to Take Tea With Jane Austen

• Michelle Roberts on Food in Jane Austen's Novels

• Jane Austen Out Loud! at Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea

The Connection Between Miss Bates and Mrs. Bates and Elinor Dashwood

Jane Austen's Emma boasts many memorable characters, including the amiable and chatty Miss Bates and her mother, Mrs. Bates. The real life mother and daughter team of Phyllida Law and Sophie Thompson played the two women in the 1996 version of Emma, directed by Douglas McGrath.

Phyllida Law and Sophie Thompson.

Both women are related to Emma Thompson, who is Sophie's older sister.

Emma played Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, 1996. Sophie also played Mary Musgrove in Persuasion, 1995. Update: Most recently, Phyllida played Cassandra Leigh Austen, Jane's mother, in Miss Austen Regrets. (See picnic photo)

More about Phyllida and her daughters:

• Daily Mail Article: Emma Thompson and Mum
  

• Phyllida Law: New York Times Biography

• Actors' Wedding Photo Donated: Bristol University
  

• Sophie Thompson Interview

• Emma Thompson Biography